The Hindu Business Line : `Low' splits; remnant brings rain to west coast

The entire west coast is witnessing a wet spell after the `low' in the South-East Arabian Sea got split and an eastward-bound remnant rolled in to the accompaniment of elongated stretches of cloudiness.

The rest of the formation is tipped to travel further to the west and could even set up a severe weather system, according to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Mr Jim Andrews of AccuWeather.com also shared this outlook.

The wet spell is predicted to hold for another 24 hours, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the National Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF). The session is likely to taper off thereafter.

The bifurcation of the Arabian Sea system was caused largely under the influence of the seasonal anti-cyclone that sits over upland India, said Dr K.J. Ramesh of the Department of Science and Technology. The anti-cyclone is credited with heralding fairer weather and wintry conditions in the plains of the north.

The southerly-to-south-westerly flows of the anti-cyclone scooped up some of the cloudiness associated with the low-pressure area lingering in the area for over the past two days. A larger trough of low pressure lying along the coast provided the ideal backdrop for this to happen.

According to the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC), an area of convection some 600 nautical miles to the southwest of Mumbai was located in an area of low to moderate vertical wind shear and favourable upper level outflow.

But it discounted the possibility of development of a significant tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours.

WIDESPREAD RAIN

An update by the IMD said that a trough of `low' with an embedded upper air circulation lay centred over southeast and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea. Model prediction suggests that fairly widespread rainfall is likely over Lakshadweep, Kerala, coastal Karnataka, south Konkan and Goa.

Rain/thundershowers are likely at many places over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, a few places over south interior Karnataka.

WESTERLY SYSTEM

A western disturbance lay over Jammu and Kashmir and adjoining region on Tuesday. It is likely to move in an eastward direction. Under its influence, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal are likely to receive scattered to fairly widespread snowfall/rainfall during the next 48 hours.

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